Elk 3/7/15

3/7/15
Night before read Elks "Packed powder" Condition report with some skepticism .
Woke up early and after not being able to get some local BC at a nature preserve near home the day before.
Having read BG's , and a cousins Blue report . figured I would get some BC turns before heading to ELk.

Got to the Parking area of South Mountain Nature Preserve at 5:30 am and skinned up in the Moonlight
Had about 20 Fun powder turns ,

Got to Elk around 9am , Always love the view of Tunkannock trail from the parking lot ,walking up to the ticket window though soft powder though to myself , they blew some snow?
After looking around saw it was natural! they were spared somehow from the rain crust !
There condition report is 100% true!

The Sun was out and a balmy 20f headed for Tunkannock the moguls were great and I just couldn't stop lapping the trail.
Got a little tired and muffed two runs a bad pole plant and caught an outside edge and blew out my left ski, Ended my 3 season streak of no release since getting my Dukes.
Went inside and had a great burger and kept kicking myself for wasting the energy on the early morning tour.
Back out and a groomer Susquehanna and another bump run Chippewa, and back to Tunkannock .
I left at 1:30 in heavy snow squall , That was the best day I've had at Elk aside from a Powder day.


Get there today ! Should be comparable

Elk'so location helps quite a bit. They're further north and inland so they avoid a lot of marginal events that impact other Poconos resorts. Also means it's the furthest from Philly and nyc so you get lighter crowds. Elk's not bad for PA really. Good cruising runs but no real difficult terrain. They have a few narrower trails as well. IMO it's worth a trip once a year if you're in the mid Atlantic region.

Rowsdower said:

Elk'so location helps quite a bit. They're further north and inland so they avoid a lot of marginal events that impact other Poconos resorts. Also means it's the furthest from Philly and nyc so you get lighter crowds. Elk's not bad for PA really. Good cruising runs but no real difficult terrain. They have a few narrower trails as well. IMO it's worth a trip once a year if you're in the mid Atlantic region.

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That last rain event was very widespread , driving north I was looking at shiny snow all the way into Scranton
Not sure how Catskills made out.

Greek skied really well after the warm up on Thursday, the snow was a little heavy though, took a tumble on a green, Arcadian Gate, made a couple turns in some untracked, couldn't get my ski out of it's trench, BAM, down goes Frazier. Grateful I didn't injure myself the day before going West, that'd be just like me.

Cornhead said:

couldn't get my ski out of it's trench, BAM, down goes Frazier. .

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LOL, Took me a sec to get that. You're dating yourself there.

Yes, I know, when riding the t-bar at Snow Ridge I was entertained by a couple teenage snowboarders trying to ride it. They would fall then grab ahold of the t-bar in a death grip and essentially groom the t-bar track with their boards. Every time they fell I'd yell out "down goes Frazier!", they probably thought the fat old guy behind them was nuts...they were right.

Siliconebobsquarepants said:

That last rain event was very widespread , driving north I was looking at shiny snow all the way into Scranton
Not sure how Catskills made out.

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Encountered rain crust in the Catskills. Was worse in some spots but did put a damper on getting fresh tracks in the woods anywhere. It was either ride where the crust was broken up or risk getting an edge sucked under.

Rowsdower said:

Encountered rain crust in the Catskills. Was worse in some spots but did put a damper on getting fresh tracks in the woods anywhere. It was either ride where the crust was broken up or risk getting an edge sucked under.

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Did a BC In JT a few weeks ago to a new spot and thought I could deal with the crust, Was really ugly run .
The only thing that made it worth while was the view, Was able to see Glen Onoko falls in a frozen state.

Siliconebobsquarepants said:

Got to the Parking area of South Mountain Nature Preserve at 5:30 am and skinned up in the Moonlight
Had about 20 Fun powder turns

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We hit trexler yesterday for some fun spring turns to avoid the crowds, pm me some time - skiing an xcd setup though

Siliconebobsquarepants said:

Not sure how Catskills made out.

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I was with some friends this weekend who've never skied Belle before who kept remarking how great the snow was, even in the trees. The glades got enough traffic that the slight crustiness never was much of a factor at all. On Sunday squalls would come through regularly with a refreshing dusting.

legalskier said:

I was with some friends this weekend who've never skied Belle before who kept remarking how great the snow was, even in the trees. The glades got enough traffic that the slight crustiness never was much of a factor at all. On Sunday squalls would come through regularly with a refreshing dusting.

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Was Tomahawk Liftline open? I checked out Belle Saturday and it was closed. It looks like a lot of fun when its open.